Discovery Shares Jump on Buyback Plans

Discovery Communications, Inc. said that it plans to buy back 25 percent of the stake held by shareholder Cox Communications, Inc. on Thursday.

The firm, which owns the Discovery cable channel, will pay Cox $1.275 billion in cash. It will also give the Travel Channel and Antenna Audio to the cable company.

This proposed transaction will simplify Discovery's ownership structure, further streamline our operations and give the company more strategic flexibility, Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav said in a statement.

Discovery will raise the cash through an additional bank and expects the deal to close in May, this year.